Stegophilus is a genus of pencil catfishes native to South America.
| Stegophilus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Family: | Trichomycteridae |
| Subfamily: | Stegophilinae |
| Genus: | Stegophilus Reinhardt, 1859 |
| Type species | |
| Stegophilus insidiosus Reinhardt, 1859
| |
Species
editThere are currently three recognized species in this genus:[1]
- Stegophilus insidiosus Reinhardt, 1859
- Stegophilus panzeri (Ahl, 1931)
- Stegophilus septentrionalis Myers, 1927
S. insidiosus originates from the São Francisco River basin in Brazil, S. panzeri is from the lower Amazon River basin in Brazil, and S. septentrionalis is from Orinoco River basin in Venezuela.[2] Stegophilus species grow to between 4.1–4.4 centimetres (1.6–1.7 in) SL.[3][4] S. insidiosus is a true parasite living in the gill chambers of larger fishes, including catfishes like Sorubim lima; it uses its strong teeth to bite into the gill filaments to suck the blood.[5]
References
edit- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Stegophilus". FishBase. February 2012 version.
- ^ Ferraris, Carl J. Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Stegophilus panzeri". FishBase. July 2007 version.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Stegophilus septentrionalis". FishBase. July 2007 version.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Stegophilus insidiosus". FishBase. July 2007 version.